Now Or Never
by BlackCatPen
Summary: Lily is a pureblood witch that transfers to Hogwarts in her sixth year. She wants to play Quidditch, but there is only boy teams at Hogwarts. She fakes documents and with the help of Sirius Black, she goes to Hogwarts as a boy.  T to be safe
1. Chapter 1

This will be a little off (or a lot off) from normal fanfictions. First off Lily will be a pureblood, and there is boy-only Quidditch teams. No girls are allowed on the team, and Lily really wants to play, so she does the only logical thing she can think of. First time posting on here, but not first time writing fanfiction. Thank you for reading my story, it means a lot. :)

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><p>"How far are you willing to go, to get what you want?" Was a question that I thought about for a long time. How far <em>was<em> I willing to go? I mean, girl's were not allowed to play on the teams, so what could I do? Well, I was transferring, and nobody knew who I was... I _could _pretend to be a boy... but how?

I would need help. And the only person I knew at Hogwarts, was the only person I could think of to help. It was time to pay a little visit to Mr. Sirius Black...

"Sirius, you're the only person I know at Hogwarts, and you're the only person that can help me pull this off! Please! I really need your help!" I begged and gave him the puppy dog eyes.

"Why me? Why don't you ask your parents or some of your friends from your old school? Why me?" Sirius questioned.

"I did ask my parents, but they can only get me so far. I need someone at the school to help. Back up my stories and make sure I don't slip up. Please! And I didn't want to have to bring this up, but you owe me. Please, Sirius, I really want this. Please." I went for the secret weapon, tears. If there is one thing that Sirius can't handle, it's tears. I just hope that it would work.

"Fine! But now you owe me for this!" He finally said. I squealed and jumped up to hug him.

"Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! I love you for this! Your my best friend ever! Did you know that? THANK YOU!" I screamed.

"Okay, if your going to be a guy, you can't do that." He said while laughing. I let go of him. With a mischievous look in his eyes, he said, "Come on, let's go make you a guy."

It took a lot of effort, but finally I was ready. My parents had sent in the false documents, claiming that my name was Laurence Evans Spencer. There was a charm they performed that made my hair short-ish and brown. My features took on a more boy-like appearance and my voice was deeper. My story was simple I transferred from a school in America and I was in my sixth year. All that was left, was to actually go to Hogwarts. And I was ready.

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><p>I know that that was really short, but it was just to introduce what was happening. Please review and tell me what you think :)<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

It was September 1st. My very first day at Hogwarts, and trying to fool people that I was a boy. I went to the train station with Sirius and his family just so that people wouldn't recognize my parents and start to put pieces together.

We had just gotten onto the platform when I heard a voice yell out, "PADFOOT!" I turned around to see a dark haired boy running towards us.

"PRONGS! Hey, how are you?" Sirius yelled back. "Stay here." He told me then went to meet the boy. I could see them talking and the dark haired boy pointed at me. Then they both started walking over to me. I started to panic. Running my hand through my short hair at the base of my neck, I was trying to think of what to say. Did guys have some secret greeting only they knew? Merlin, they were getting closer. I dropped my hand. I was freaking out inside while trying to portray a calm expression. I was struggling, and I was out of time. They were right in front of me.

"Hey. I'm James." He said simply. I almost sighed in relief it was just a normal greeting. Keeping the expression on my face seemed a bit easier.

"I'm Laurence." I stated. Sirius seemed to feel my internal state of freaking out because he started to speak.

"Oi, Prongs is Moony and Wormtail here yet?" He asked. My mind seemed to register familiarity at the names. I vaguely remembered Sirius telling me about how him and his friends became animagus to help their other friend, who was a werewolf. This must be them.

"Uh yeah, Moony had to get to his prefect meeting and Wormtail is in the normal compartment. Is Laurence sitting with us?" He asked. His face seemed to harden when he said my name. I could tell that their little secret was only between the four of them and he didn't want me knowing. It was like a secret club people made up when they were eight, but this would ruin someone if this secret got out.

"Yeah, he is. He just transferred from a different school and he's in our year, meaning that he'll have to share the dormitory with us. So unless you want an extremely awkward year, we will all become friends." Sirius said trying to keep from a fight breaking out. James seemed to relax at Sirius's words. He gave James a look that clearly told him that I was going to be tagging along for a while.

"Let's go meet Wormtail." Sirius suggested. We all picked up our trunks and entered the train. James led the way to the compartment where 'Wormtail' was. I had no clue what his, or Moony's, actual name was, but I didn't ask. There was no need to make an enemy in the first hour that I met someone.

We walked to the very back of the train to the last compartment. James opened the door and I spotted a plump boy sitting alone. He had light brown hair and a rat-like face. He seemed short compared to Sirius and James, but I couldn't talk as I was only five three.

"Hey. Who's this?" he asked when he spotted me.

"I'm Laurence." I said

"Peter." He answered and turned to talk to James and Sirius. "Moony said that the prefect meeting shouldn't last long, and he'd be back before we left the station."

"Cool, you can meet Moony." Sirius said.

"How do you know each other?" Peter asked. Me and Sirius exchanged a look.

"He's an old family friend. We got lumped together a couple times during family events and we became friends." Sirius answered quickly. James looked at him strangely. Sirius just shrugged his shoulders and looked out the open compartment door. "Well, look who it is. Little greasy Snivelous. I think he got greasier over the summer. What do you say Prongs?" A tall dark haired boy with a hooked nose was walking past the compartment. He looked up at the sound of Sirius's voice. His face instantly hardened and he sneered.

"I do believe your correct, Padfoot. He _did _get greasier. We should fix that." But before James could even get out his wand, Snape sent a hex towards him. I quickly got out my wand and blocked the spell.

"Oh look, Potter got a new guard dog, you better watch your back." Snape said and walked away.

"What did you do now, Prongs?" A new boy asked. He had brown hair and icy blue eyes with an air of mystery around him.

"I didn't do anything, he hexed me. Then Laurence blocked it." James explained.

"Oh, hi," he said when he saw me. "I'm Remus Lupin." He held out his hand. I shook it.

"Laurence Evans." James looked up.

"You never said your name was Evans. I know their family and I've never heard of you." I started panicking.

Thinking quickly, I responded, "I don't go to very many family events. And when I do, I don't really talk."

"Oh, that... explains it?" He looked confused.

"Yeah..." I said vaguely. I glanced out the window and saw the family owl. I got up and opened the window to let it in. It circled the compartment, dropped the letter on the floor, and flew out the window. Remus picked it up.

"Who's Lily Evans?" He looked at me.

"Uh, my sister. My parents must have sent it to the wrong school. She still goes to school in America. Whoops, I'll mail it back when we get to the school." I glanced at Sirius panic clear in my eyes.

"So, James, did you get Quidditch Captain this year?" He asked.

"Yeah, I did. But just because I'm captain, doesn't guarantee you a spot. You'll have to try put just like everyone else."

Sirius pouted. "Come on, Prongs you know I'm the best beater, of course you'll put me on the team."

"Whoa, wait, your captain?" I turned to James and asked.

"Yeah, that's what I just said. You play?"

"Yeah, Seeker. What about you?"

"Chaser. Hey, do you know what house you'll be in?"

"Yeah, Gryffindor. They sorted me over the summer. Are you guys in that house too?" I asked

"Yeah, and proud of it! At least your not in Slytherin or I couldn't be your friend." James said proudly.

"What's wrong with Slytherin?" I asked confused.

"They all want to become Death Eaters. They think that if your muggle-born that you don't deserve to have magic. They shove their ideals down everyone's throats and hex anyone that's not a pureblood. UGH! I hate _all _of them." James ranted.

"Oh." I went quiet after that.

Remus, Peter, Sirius, and James talked the rest of the way to Hogwarts. I sat silently in the corner seat by the window only half listening. I had no idea what I was going to do once I got to Hogwarts. I only barely survived the train ride. But I had to tough it out. I was doing this for Quidditch and Quidditch was worth any struggle that I had to go through. Wasn't it?


	3. Chapter 3

Kind of a filler chapter, kind of not, I'll let you decide :) And I apologize for the long wait I had writer's block. And thank you so much to ILoveHarryPotterForever and angelvan105 for reviewing. Also to Ash121391 , LOTL Stephanie.L , argentin , ILoveHarryPotterForever , angelvan105 , CSlvHP11 , and smartypants023 for adding it to their alerts. And finally to MissxLilyxEvans and ILoveHarryPotterForever for adding it to their favorite stories. I love you guys! I know authors say it a lot, but this is the first time my stories have ever gotten a response, even if it is a little one to others, it is HUGE to me. Enjoy and R/R

My new school year at Hogwarts took a little getting used to. The staircases moved, the school poltergeist threw dung bombs in the corridors and the professors assigned more homework than my old school had. The passwords for the common room were odd and I forgot them frequently. I had to get up and hour early than the other guys to take a shower. I wasn't going to even risk the possibility that they could find out.

The other guys were impossibly messy and I felt like a jerk for yelling at them to pick up their socks and underwear. Remus was the only other clean one. Sirius, Peter, and James refused to ever clean and I normally had to use my growing knowledge of house-hold spells to keep the dorm clean. I took Sirius aside on day and asked him to at least pick up his underwear since I didn't really want to see it and he was the only one that knew. He refused until I took a picture of his bunny boxers and enlarged and charmed it to hang in the Great Hall during dinner one night. His, and actually, no one else's, underwear was never left around again.

My lessons were good, I was learning so much and the professors were much better than my old schools. In general things were good. I got along with my roommates, I kept up with homework, and Quidditch tryouts were going to start sometime in the beginning of October according to James. It was during my first ever potions lesson that things went from manageable to that 'Oh my god! I'm falling into a black hole and my life is over and this sucks!' feeling.

We were doing a complicated potion and Professor Slughorn had us work in pairs that he assigned. Because he had no indication of any skills I may, or may not, have in potions he paired me with his best student. If I was good we would be letting the other students learn the material themselves. If it turned out I was terrible, the student could help me. If I was average I would get neither help nor harm from my partner.

As it turned out I was paired with Severus Snape. He was a greasy haired, hook nosed boy that the guys didn't like. The way he took one look at me and sneered, I could tell that I wouldn't like him much either. He had already gotten the ingredients and had his book turned to the page with Amortentia. There were notes written in the margins and any spare space on the page. The hand writing was cramped and I could tell it was his telling him better ways to do certain steps in the instructions.

"Add the Ashwinder egg while the water is simmering." He commanded me. I carefully put the egg into the water and it went in with a small 'plop'. "Be careful! If the egg breaks we will have to start over!" He yelled angrily at me.

"I know. You can't drop potion ingredients into the cauldron any higher than three inches. That was only two, so shut up if you're going to tell me to do something, I'm going to do it my way."

He nodded. "Good, you're not completely incompetent, Lily." I froze. Like completely and utterly stopped what I was doing. My hand froze over the rose thorns I was in the process of removing. I slowly turned my head to look at his smug face.

"What did you call me?" I asked slowly.

"Lily Marie Evans." He said calmly, looking me straight in my emerald green eyes.

"I don't know who that is. My name is Laurence Evans Spencer. Lily is my sister." I chuckled trying to appear innocent, but I was failing miserably.

"Lily, I know it's you. If you would've remembered we grew up around each other. If you truly didn't want people to recognize you, you would've changed your eyes. Don't worry though, I won't tell anyone." He promised.

I just stared at him. Why would he care whether or not he told anyone? I thought he would tell on me just to get back at the Marauders. "Why would you do this for me? What do you get out of it? Besides blackmail that is." I asked.

"Well, I have my own reasons, and don't worry, I won't blackmail you for anything. I just wanted to let you know that you don't have to put up a front around me."

"Oh, well, thanks, I guess." I was completely unsure on whether or not I could trust Snape.

"Add the rose thorns and peppermint." He told me with a slight smirk. Maybe I could trust him after all.

Forty-five minutes later, our potion took on a mother-of-pearl sheen. We had done it perfectly! Mmm, I could smell the Quidditch field, fresh coffee, and another smell I didn't have a name for. I might have smelled it somewhere in the dorm. It was a kind of vanilla-ish smell that wasn't enough to be girly, it was just a hint of it mixed with a distinct guy smell that I would know as soon as I smelled it next. I smiled slightly, then wiped it off my face quickly and replaced it with a smirk. There, that would be the guy thing to do.

"It must be terrible to have to hide who you are all the time. Don't you ever get tired of it?" He asked curiously.

"Occasionally. Sirius knows though, so I can drop it for the most part around him. You want to know what I miss the most about being a girl?" I asked him.

"What?"

I smiled vaguely. "Washing and brushing my long red hair. I hate this stupid, short, brown hair that I'm stuck with." He chuckled.

"You really are a girl, aren't you?"

"Yup." I nodded and laughed.

The bell rang and I gathered up my stuff and shoved it roughly into my bag causing it to split. My quills, ink, spare parchment, and books went everywhere. I just dropped my bag and looked at it debating just leaving it there. It seemed that no one was left in the dungeon classroom. I sighed. At least it was the last class of the day and I could trudge up to the common room and be moody in peace. My good mood was now ruined. Stupid bag. Yet, it shouldn't have made me feel this bad. Oh crap, it must be that time of the month coming up. I sighed again. This was going to be terrible.

I dropped to my knees and started piling up my stuff. My bag was being held out to me fully fixed. I looked up and saw Sirius.

"Thanks, Siri. I appreciate it." I told him gratefully.

"You looked like you wanted to set all your stuff on fire Lils. It's the least I can do. Are you excited about the Hogsmeade weekend?" He asked.

"Oh crap! That is this weekend isn't it? And so are Quidditch tryouts. CRAP!" I moaned.

"Lilykins, you'll do fine at tryouts. I've seen the other people practice, and you have nothing to worry about. Plus, you know James and that will give you a definite leg up." He reassured me.

"I don't want to get the spot just because I know James, I want to get it because I'm the best one for the position. That's the whole reason I'm here under the pretenses I've set up." I was getting angry. "I don't know if this is even worth it even more. I want to be Lily Marie Evans. I want to feel my long _red_ hair down my back, I want to hear my own voice! I want to wear my own clothes! I want to be a girl again, even if it's only for an hour." My voice got quiet. "Sirius, I want to be me again." I looked up at him and I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes.

"It's going to be worth it. You're going to see when you get the part, and walk out onto the field for your first game and hear the crowd screaming for you. About the other part, I don't know how to help you there, but you'll find a way. Don't worry about it. It will all fall into place when it is supposed to." He rubbed my back soothingly.

"Thank you, Siri." I pulled him into a hug.

"Your welcome." He whispered in my ear. "Let's go back to the common room. The dungeons freak me out."

"Okay."


	4. Chapter 4

This chapter ended up being longer than I anticipated. Next chapter _should_ have the Quidditch tryouts and Hogsmeade. Thank you so much for reading.

The morning after the potions lesson, where I learned that Snape knew, I was sitting in breakfast when the post came. I wasn't expecting much, maybe a letter from my parents, but that was about it. What I wasn't expecting was a letter from my old school friends. They learned that we had a Hogsmeade visit and they were coming to see me. Me, as in Lily Marie Evans. As in long red, girly clothes, and **female.** I was officially screwed.

My hand was shaking and I almost dropped the letter. I gave Sirius a look that clearly told him I was freaking out and something was wrong. He gave me a look that said that we'll talk later. I stood up from the table, and I felt the other Marauders eyes' shift to me.

"I want to go… check over my Transfiguration essay." I lied quickly. I saw Peter and James shrug and Remus nod. Sirius stood too.

"I have to distract him from working to hard, or we'll have another Remus on our hands." The others laughed. I grinned weakly, I still felt like I was going to barf.

Once we left the Great Hall, instead of heading to the common room, we went to the Room of Requirement. The room had a long chocolate brown couch, a fireplace, two red chairs, and a medium-sized coffee table. He raised an eyebrow.

"What? I wanted to be comfortable. I have feeling we're going to be in here for awhile." I answered as calmly as I could.

"Okay, then. What was wrong at breakfast? You read the letter and looked like you were going to die."

"Just listen to the letter I got from Kate, Anna, and Angela. Remember them? My best friends from _my old school?" _I might have lost it at that point.

"'_Dear Lily, We miss you! You haven't written us in a while. How's your new school? We found out that you have visits to that little town, Hogsmeade. __It sounds like such a cute little town!__ And the next one is this weekend! __**She already knows that, it is her school. **__Why didn't you tell us? We decided that it has been so long since we last saw you; we're coming to visit. We even got clearance from our Headmaster. Remember him? __**Of course she remembers him, she hasn't been gone that long Kate. **__I know Angela; it just seemed like the right thing to say there. __Stop fighting in our letter to Lily; she doesn't want to read it. Heck I don't want to hear it. I love you, Lily! __**Anna, always the peacemaker, but I love you too, Lily. **__Can I get on with my… I mean our letter. Anyway, I guess he knows your Headmaster and we got special permission! We can't wait to see you again! Hope you miss us. Love and miss you lots, your partners in crime. Kate, __Anna__, and __**Angela**__.' _Do you understand now?" I asked him.

"How are you going to do it? Quidditch is right before the visit. You have to be at tryouts as Laurence, and then you have to be in Hogsmeade as Lily. You can probably make some excuse to the guys about not going, then your 'sister' as you called her, will show up." He looked as confused at his speech as I was.

"Can you please repeat that one more time? You lost me."

"Go to Quidditch tryouts. Be Laurence and kick arse at the tryouts and get the spot. Then, make some excuse to the guys that your not feeling well, or you got a detention, or _something. _After that, undo the charms and be Lily. Simple as that." He looked proud of the plan he had just created, but I saw a huge flaw.

"Sirius, that's a great plan and all, but I don't have any girl things. You know clothes, makeup, that sort of thing." He didn't look at all deterred by what I had just said.

"That dearest Lilykins is easily fixed." He grinned from ear to ear.

"How is that easily fixed? Where are we going to get that stuff?" I asked him.

"Go take a shower, and we'll plan it all out when you get out. And take the charms off. It's time Lily Marie made an appearance." He said cryptically. He pointed at a corner where a bathroom had appeared, and I found that it was a fully functional bathroom with lots of smelly soaps and shampoos and conditioners. He made sure that my normal vanilla-honey scented shampoo and conditioner were in the shower. I glanced in the mirror; I was so used to seeing Laurence. I didn't want to see myself as Lily again until I was fully Lily again. I turned away from my reflection and undid the charms. I felt my now long red hair tumble down my back. My face slowly regained its female looks. And I knew that if I were to speak my voice would be higher and back to normal.

I turned on the water and took a quick shower. I pulled on a bathrobe that was hanging on a hook on the door. I left the bathroom and found that the room now vaguely resembled a boutique. Like one of those fancy ones no one but the uber rich could afford. Sirius was sitting on one of the plush red loveseats.

"I told you we could fix the problem. Now, I think you should get some underwear on, so you don't have to wear that stupid robe." I might have smacked him at that comment, but let him lead me over to that area anyway. I really did need underwear now, and for later.

The first things he pulled out were so embarrassing I didn't even want to look at it let alone wear it. Finally he started being, well, serious and he picked out a red bra with gold stars and stripes and matching underwear. It was perfect. I went into the dressing room and changed into them quickly and pulled the robe back on.

"Lily, I've seen you in your bikini. The bra and panties is no different. Drop the robe, besides your more of a sister type to me, and you can't look at clothes with only one hand." I blushed, a symptom of the redhead curse, and put the robe on the coach with my hands trying to cover as much of me as possible. "Relax, Lily." Sirius said.

"What do you think about this?" He held up the shortest denim skirt I had ever seen and a tiny tube top with hooker shoes.

"How about not. I don't feel like dressing like a slag, and that is not my style. Try again." I told him smiling. Typical Sirius. If he could he'd have every girl dress like that. I started searching through the racks. My hand brushed up against something soft and I pulled it off to look at it. It was a tunic-type shirt that was a very pretty dark green. There were little plaid lines of emerald and black through it. It had three quarter sleeves that would hug my arms, but they wouldn't be too tight. It was perfect.

Sirius' voice came from behind me. "That will look amazing. I just came over to show you these." He held up a pair of light wash skinny jeans. "Now, we just need shoes and necklaces."

We walked over to the shoe department the room provided, and started searching. I picked up a pair of green flip-flops that would match the shirt. Sirius showed me a necklace that was made of pewter and had a crescent moon and a star touching.

"There. Let's get to makeup, who knows how long you'll stay there for." I smacked his arm and smirked. I waved my wand and my hair curled in its normal ringlets and my makeup was perfect.

"I forgot to tell you. Those were some of the first spells I learned." His mouth dropped open in disbelief. "Close your mouth, or something will fly in."

"Oh, your evil, you know that?" He pouted.

"Yup." I smiled even wider. Then frowned. "How are we going to get this stuff up to the room without the guys asking questions?" I asked.

"Easy. I still have James' invisibility cloak."

"I love you, Siri. Thank you _**so **_much for doing this. You're the besest friend a girl could have." I hugged him. "But, now I have to get back to boy form." I redid all the charms and Laurence was back. I felt sad letting go of Lily again, but I'd see her soon. "Lets go back to the dorm. Remus and James will be wondering where we are." I bundled up all the clothes and wrapped them in the invisibility cloak. 'You know,' I thought to myself, 'this may actually work.' I smiled at the thought and left the Room of Requirement with Sirius.

I normally don't do author notes at the end of a chapter, but there are a few things that I wanted to maybe clear up. In the letter, _Kate was just the italic_, _**Angela was in bold italics, **__and Anna was underlined italic__. _Thanks for reading, and tell me what you think in a comment.


	5. Chapter 5

Thank you to all those who read my story, it means so much to me to see that. Thank you especially to those who take the time to review, and who added me to their favorite authors, and subscribed for alerts on the story. I love getting the emails telling me that you care. It makes me want to keep writing it, instead of abandoning it like I've been known to do. Sorry for the long wait, but here is a very, extremely, long chapter, so I hope that you'll forgive me! Oh, and just a little fact, Angela, was originally named Courtney. Enjoy the chapter!

"Great Evans! See that everyone? **That **is how you catch a snitch. Alright everyone; let's try it again." "No, no, no! You have to stop the Quaffle from going in! Don't push it in yourself! Pearson, get back in there and show Ridley how it's done!"

These were among the shouts that I heard during the tryouts. Potter was running the different tryouts, as there were only two positions on the team this year, simultaneously. So far, it appeared that the potential Keeper's were not very good. Only Pearson seemed to have any competent ability at all. He was probably going to get the position.

I was unable to tell who had the advantage with the Seeker's, but I was hoping that I would get the position, or this entire year would become a waste. James had basically released the snitch and told us all that, whoever caught it the most, by the end of tryouts, would get the spot. So far, I had caught it about three times. It had been released five times. The tryouts were coming to a close and I hoped that Aster didn't catch it again, or it might end in a tie.

I was circling around the field high up in the air. There was a glint of gold by the teachers' stands. I leaned forward and my broom sped toward the spot. Aster was suddenly right behind me. He tried to knock me aside, but I moved out of the way in enough time. He went shooting some where to the left of me. I didn't have enough time to care at that moment. I reached out my hand and it had just closed around the tiny fluttering ball, when I heard Potter's whistle ring out.

"Great! Evans, welcome to the team, same to you Pearson. Good job everyone, sorry that we only have two positions. Hit the showers." He yelled. I broke out in a huge grin. The rest of the Gryfindor team flew down to meet us on the ground.

"We're going to the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer. Would you guys like to join us? You'd get to know the team better." Potter asked.

Pearson nodded his head, but I shook mine. "I have that Charms essay due on Monday. If I don't get it done, Flitwick said he'd give me a detention. Sorry." I told them. Potter shrugged. Sirius looked at me.

"Alright then. See you later then." Then him and the rest of the team, minus Sirius left.

"Okay, I put your clothes in the seeker locker. Lets go get you changed." With that we started walking to the locker rooms. We had everything planned out.

I went to the locker and pulled out everything. First I undid any of the charms and turned myself back into my normal self. Then I pulled on the underwear, the shirt, the jeans, and slid on my flip-flops. I waved my wand and my hair and makeup was perfect. I glanced in the mirror. My eyes were twinkling, and I had the biggest smile on my face despite how nervous I was.

I left the locker rooms and saw Sirius waiting for me with James' invisibility cloak. He smirked and threw the cloak over both of us and we set off for Hogsmeade.

I told my friends to meet me in the Three Broomsticks. I hadn't seen the problem with this, until I remembered James' words. _'We're going to the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer.' _Oh no, if they recognized me I was screwed.

"Sirius, the entire Gryfindor team is going to be at the Three Broomsticks. You have to cover for me. Please!" I did the whole big green pleading eyes trick.

"Fine, but you owe me for all of this!" He said trying to sound angry, but his eyes gave him away. They were sparkling mischievously. I gave him a hug.

"You're the smartest, cutest, most awsomest trouble maker that is currently giving me help." I told him trying to get out of any favors he might ask in the future.

"Thank you, you aren't so bad yourself, but you aren't getting out of any future favors I will ask of you."

"Damn." I muttered, and he smirked.

"I know you better than you do, Lilykins."

We had almost reached the little village when I turned to Sirius, feeling my long hair swish across my back.

"Siri, I don't think I can do this." I was internally freaking out, and now it was clambering for an escape.

"Lily, you'll be fine. James will not recognize you, the Quidditch team will not recognize you, your friends will not realize anything, and you will make it through this Hogsmeade trip."

"There are things, that you don't know, Sirius, they _will _know. They aren't like normal best friends." I tried to tell him without actually speaking the words. I couldn't just tell him, I had been sworn to secrecy. He had to figure it out on his own.

"Then they know. They're your friends, they will always be there for you." He said with such certainty that my fears were quelled for a moment. I smiled at him and we continued to walk the path to Hogsmeade.

When we reached The Three Broomsticks, I took a deep breath and felt Sirius' hand on my shoulder before I pushed open the door. On one side of the pub I saw the rambunctious crowd consisting of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and their many admirer's. On the other I saw three girls sitting at a table with a bottle of butterbeer in front of them. They were quietly talking among themselves. They were so different that it was hard to believe that they were all friends.

I took another deep breath and walked over. "Hey." I said casually as I sat down. Anna was the first to look up. Her brown eyes were a little wary at first as she didn't know who it was that spoke, but once she saw me she squealed. With her honey blonde hair fanning out she about tackled me in a huge bear hug.

"Lily!" I'm so happy to see you!" Anna exclaimed.

"I'm happy to see you too, Anna." I told her returning the hug. I glanced at her outfit. The olive green dress had a sweetheart neckline and she had paired it with black leggings, black ballet flats and her wolf charm necklace.

"So what are we? Chopped liver?" Angela said in her normal sarcastic voice, but it was accompanied by a grin and a twinkle in her green eyes. Her black tank-top, owl necklace, and short denim skirt was normally the things that made girls watch their boyfriends a little more carefully, but they didn't have to worry as Angela wasn't interested. It would take a very special boy to attract her attention for a serious relationship. Her short blonde and brown-layered hair had been straightened, and was thrown over one shoulder. I got up and gave her a hug.

"Of course not. If you were Anna would've probably eaten you already." I giggled, referring to Anna's odd tastes that resulted from her brother's odd tastes.

"Hey!" Her indignant voice piped up. We all laughed. I gave Kate a hug too.

"Hi, Lily!" She said. Kate's blue eyes were sparkling with excitement. Her curly black-blue hair was up in a messy bun with little tendrils hanging out. Her black skinny jeans were tucked into high-heeled boots. She had on a blue tank top that was cinched at the waist with her panther charm necklace. She was tough and didn't trust many people.

"Hey, Kate!" I smiled, even if I was nervous to be here as Lily, my friends always put me at ease.

"Lily, who are those guys over there?" Angela asked me, pointing to the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I sucked in breath real fast.

"That's, uh, the Gryffindor Quidditch team. James Potter is the captain and a chaser, Sirius Black is a beater, Jacob Pearson is the keeper, and Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew are also there, but they're just friends with Potter and Sirius. Together the four of them make up the Marauders." I told them as calmly as I could.

"Why is Remus so pale? He looks like he has a terrible cold." Anna asked.

I gave her a look. "He's like Michael."

"Ah." She said with understanding as her gaze turned sympathetic. Simultaneously Kate, Anna, and Angela all stood up from their chairs.

"No, please don't do that!" I pleaded with them, but they all just started walking toward them any way. "Wait! I have to tell you something before you go over there." I figured the truth would be the best thing.

"You are going to say that you don't actually go to school as Lily Evans." Kate started.

"You go to school as a guy, just so you can play Quidditch." Anna continued.

"And you don't want us to go over there, because you're afraid that we'll slip up, and they'll figure it out." Angela finished. I just gaped at them.

"Your mom told us." They all said together and smiled evilly at the same time.

"Well, I guess you know, so go ahead then?" I said slowly.

"Yeah, we kind of figured." Then they continued walking to the Quidditch teams table.

We all arrived at the same time. "Hey." We greeted at the same time. We seemed to do that a lot. I watched as Sirius' eyes grew a little wider and had a questioning look. I shook my head a fraction.

They exchanged confused looks. Then Sirius did a fake act of realization dawning on him. "Oh my gosh! Is that…? It is! Lily Evans! I can't believe it! I have not seen you since last summer! How have you been?" He gave me a huge bear hug.

I plastered on the joy and confusion of seeing him. "Siri! Oh my gosh! I've been good, what about you? How's my brother?" I fake gushed.

"Your brother?" James asked.

"Yeah, remember? Laurence? My parents sent him my letter instead of his?"

"Ohhhhhh" James, Remus, and Peter said as the realization hit them at the same time. Remus' expression went from understanding back to confusion. "How did you know about the letter?" He asked.

"He told me about it." I said simply and shrugged my shoulders.

"So, is this your first time in Hogsmeade?" James asked.

"Yup." Kate said bluntly.

"You guys should really go check out Zonko's for prank stuff and Honeydukes for candy." Remus suggested.

"Or the Shrieking Shack! It's supposed to be the most haunted building in England!" Peter piped up. He got three different smacks on the arm and a stern look. "Or not…" he said quietly and trailed off.

"Cool, we'll be sure to check out Honeydukes and Zonko's." Anna started. Then looked directly at Remus. "Would you guys like to join us?" she asked.

"Sure."

"Yeah."

"Why not?"

"Okay." We got four different 'yes' answers. Remus offered his arm to Anna and she took, giggling and throwing a look back to the rest of us. The other three boys stood up, and the rest of us made our way out of the Three Broomsticks.

As we walked through the small village we kind of split into groups. Anna and Remus were in front, leading the way to whatever little shop she thought looked interesting. In contrast Peter hung behind everyone, moving forward a little to join in on the conversation occasionally, but for the most part just trailed behind us like a little puppy. Sirius, James, Kate, Angela, and myself were in a group.

Us girls, told stories about our school, our families, and our homes back in America. Sirius and James would tell stories of all the pranks they pulled, whether they had worked or not. Nevertheless it kept us entertained for most of the day. But, as we exited our what felt like twentieth shop I remembered what the girls and I used to do to keep ourselves entertained.

I managed to pry Anna away from Remus and I pulled Kate and Angela to the side. I made sure none of the others were listening when I turned to them, "We should go for a run!"

"Okay, but what are we going to tell the guys?" Angela asked.

"Leave that to me." I then yelled to the four boys that were standing in a little group. "We have to go do some girl things, you wouldn't be interested. We'll maybe catch up with you later. See you!" We all waved and ran toward the forest that was right next to the village.

Sirius Black turned to his three friends, "I'm going to follow them and see where they go, and maybe I can get some juicy secret!" Even if the group had only been together for a little while, they had become fast friends.

"No, Padfoot, don't." Remus, always the diplomat, said.

"Come on! It will be fun!" Sirius pleaded with him, turning on the puppy dog eyes that only he had perfected.

Remus sighed. He knew that Sirius probably shouldn't follow the girls, but if he managed to hear something about Anna having a boyfriend or something, then it would be worth it. "Fine, just don't get caught!"

"Sweet! See you guys later." Sirius then transformed and ran off.

"What are the chances that he gets caught?" Remus asked without turning around.

"Around 99.9 %."

We had reached the forest edge. The entire way there, we had bickered and joked around just like old times. I hadn't realized before how much I had missed my friends, until I got to talk to them again.

"Should we do it now, or wait until the trees cover us?" Anna asked.

"We should probably go one at a time into the trees and transform." I said. "Anna you can go first." She nodded in confirmation. I watched her move towards the line of trees and disappear from view for a moment. Then a wolf with fur that can only be described as blonde emerged. Her wide brown eyes were to gentle and intelligent to be anything but human.

"Go ahead, Kate." She nodded just as Anna had done before her and disappeared behind the trees. A sleek panther slid fluidly out from the trees. The familiar blue eyes looked up at me. Kate's black-blue hair was shiny in the dying sun of the fading afternoon. She took a place next to Anna.

"Angela." She just looked at me and responded.

"See you soon." Soon she too was gone from my vision for a moment. An owl with blonde and brown feathers perched on a tree branch and hoo'd softly. Her green eyes were large as she took in the scenery from a new perspective.

"Just me left." I took a deep breath. I hadn't changed since I last left America. It was something we did as a group, or when we really wanted to get away from the world for a while. I glanced up and down the road just in case and saw nothing but a black dog in the distance. I recognized that dog from somewhere… it was Sirius! He followed us! I felt my eyes widen with fear.

I practically ran until the trees swallowed me. I transformed quickly and as soon as I felt my hooves touch the ground I went as fast as I could back to my friends. I begged them to follow me with my eyes. They understood that I was anxious because Angela started preening her feathers; I guess it was the owl version of paying with her hair. Anna sat up on her haunches and growled a little. Kate rose to her feet (whoops paws) and padded over to me.

It was odd being larger than my friends. I was the smallest of them normally. Anna's growl increased in volume as she got a whiff of Sirius' scent. I gestured my head towards the path and started walking over to it. They finally realized that I was trying to get them away. Angela flew down and sat on my back. I turned my head to look at her and shook my head slightly. She took this as meaning that we'd be running.

We took off from our spot running as fast as we could. I soon forgot about Sirius and got caught up in the race we somehow started. Kate was edging forward and I put on a little burst of speed. Unfortunately my long limbs tangled together and I rolled forwards, tripping Kate and Anna in the process. We all stumbled forward in a big heap and fell in a clump. Before we could even start untangling ourselves Angela flew over us and landed on top of all of us. Staring at us with amusement evident in her owl eyes.  
>We all started our different animal laughs. I snorted, Angela 'hoo'd', Anna did a sneeze like thing, and so did Kate. We managed to finally unravel ourselves and stand on our own feet when something black flew past me and tackled Anna.<p>

She had been surprised, so on some instinct she changed again. "Ahhhhhh!" She yelled. The black object began a bark-like laugh and I knew who it was. Anna then realized that her best bet was to change again to fight off the foreign animal. She pushed him off, and we all set off running again. Back to Hogsmeade and Hogwarts, and back to where, I knew, I was going to be questioned.

I had bid my friends goodbye at the gates and watched as their forms faded into the landscape. I walked silently and quickly to the Room of Requirement, and saw that it resembled my room from home. I tucked away my girly clothes into the drawers and pulled on the guy clothes that were sitting on my bed. I was sad to say good-bye to Lily after finally getting to be her again, but it was something I had to do.

I fed the password to the portrait and stepped into the common room. I crept up the stairs and opened the door to the dormitories and was hoping to flop down on my bed, except the sight of Sirius standing there with his arms crossed with a, excuse the pun, a serious expression. I sighed. It was going to happen eventually.

" You know, I was following some friends of mine, because I thought it would be funny if I scared them as they were walking. What I didn't expect was to see four animals, which, in any other environment, would have killed each other. But they didn't even seem to be bothered." I started to speak, but he cut me off. "But these weren't any normal animals. They had distinct markings. They weren't even animals at all. I jumped on one. I must've startled it, because it became Anna. You know, Anna, you friend? Would you like to explain?"

"Um…uh…um…well… wesortaallbecameanimagus…" I took a deep breath and tried to say everything a bit slower. "Um, Anna's brother is a werewolf, like Remus. And I remembered you telling me the story about you guys becoming animagus because his bites wouldn't hurt you in your animal form. So, we did the same thing…" I trailed off, keeping my eyes glued to the ground.

He reached out a hand and pulled my chin up to look at him. "Why didn't you tell me?" He asked gently.

"I was afraid to."

"You never have to be afraid of me." He said and pulled me into a hug. I was amazed that he had put that behind us so fast. "Hey," He said when he pulled away. "You can join us on full moons now!"

"I can't." He looked confused. "Doe form." He still didn't understand. " A doe is a female deer." Realization finally dawned in his eyes.

"Ohh…"

"Yeah. Hey, I'm kind of tired, so I'm going to take a nap." He nodded and left the room. I collapsed on my bed and took a deep breath. Maybe this would be easier than I thought.

Sorry, again, for the wait, but this chapter was really long. I'm not sure I liked how certain parts turned out, but oh well. Please review and tell me what you think! It means a lot to me to see what you guys say about the chapters. Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

**I hope you guys liked my last update, because I really tried on that one. It was the longest chapter! I am so excited because of that. I hope you guys like this chapter and the story. I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with it, but I'm hoping that the characters will write themselves. I am so sorry that this took so long. School started and then I had French homework and Geometry homework, and then dance started again. I got very busy all of a sudden. It's been sitting half finished on my computer and I just couldn't find time to write. Thank you so much to everyone that Reviews, it really means a lot to me! **

** "**All right, Laurence, I'm going to let the snitch out. Ignore us, and focus on catching it. Got that?" James told me. I nodded once to let him know that I understood. He did as he said and I just sat on my broom and watched the snitch flit away. He turned around to address the rest of the team, and I soared upward and began searching for the tiny fluttering ball.

After ten minutes I spotted it circling around the opposite goal posts. I leaned forward and shot after it. I caught it and was studying it when I got a sharp pain in my stomach. It only lasted for a moment, so I released the snitch and flew back to my previous spot.

I caught the snitch twice more when another bout of stomach pain hit me. The snitch escaped my grasp and flew around my head before soaring off again.

The rest of practice went in much the same matter as the beginning of it. As James blew the whistle signaling the end of the practice, a stomach pain so intense I about fell off my broom. I touched down and ran to where the rest of the team was waiting. A few of my teammates gave me concerned looks, but I just waved them off.

"Great practice, but we're going to have to be better if we want to win the cup. Alright?" Everyone nodded. "Alright, hit the showers." He told us and turned around and went into the changing room himself.

As usual, I just grabbed my stuff, put my broom in the shed, and started walking to the castle. I heard footsteps running up behind me.

"Hey, Laurence, you alright there man?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine! Just leave me alone. Go back and take your shower." I snapped. The look he gave me was still concerned and unconvinced, but he went back any way.

I walked the rest of the way to the castle in silence. I had bribed Remus into giving me the password for the prefect's bathroom. I muttered the password, ('moonpies') and stepped inside. After a quick look-around I confirmed that no one was in the bathroom. I quickly locked the door and turned around. I preferred to shower as a normal girl, so I took off all the charms and such that were securing my identity.

I filled the pool-like bathtub with slightly girly-er scents than I probably should have. When the tub was properly filled with pink and purple bubbles and a light vanilla scent was wafting through the air, I shrugged out of my Quidditch robes. My shirt, pants, socks, and shoes soon followed.

As I was removing my underwear I noticed some red. I wasn't wearing anything red, besides my Quidditch robes so I looked closer. I must have gone four shades lighter. The cramps. The chocolate cravings. The mood swings. Oh no, oh no, oh no. No! Bullocks! No! Damn it! This cannot be happening! Not now! DAMN IT!

Mother Nature, you can go die in a hole. I just had to get my damn period, now. Great. The guys are going to think that I'm crazy or bipolar or something.

I sighed. There was nothing I could do now, so I just slid into the hot water. I'd have to ask Sirius where the kitchen was. I knew he knew where it was. They were always coming back in the middle of the night with a bunch of sweets. I needed chocolate. Might as well begin making a secret stockpile now. I wonder how clean it is under my bed. Maybe if I use some cleaning charms first then an Impervious on the chocolate packages it might work. I wonder when the next Hogsmeade visit is. Remus would know. I'll ask him.

Whenever I was in the bath, I always took far too long. I sighed and dipped under the water. I surfaced and slid down so that my ears were right above the water line. I heard a slight cough by the door. I turned around and saw Sirius standing there. I immediately sank down in the water chest level.

"I, uhh, saw you, umm, on the uhh map. I just wanted to umm make sure that you were uhh o-okay. So, umm ar-are you?" He blushed and tried to look anywhere but where I was.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Can you leave now?" I asked as politely as I could.

"Yes!" He almost shouted. It was kind of funny to see him so flustered. "Yes. I will do that. Goodbye now." The door clicked shut behind him.

After my bath I transfigured a wad of toilet paper into a tampon and changed back into my clean-ish clothes. Walking back to the kitchens I thought about the chocolate problem. I couldn't believe that I'd gone this long without chocolate.

I got to the common room wanting nothing more than to go up to the dorms, collapse on my bed and sleep, but the guys had other plans.

"Laurence! Over here!" James yelled from where he was sitting with Remus, Peter, and Sirius.

"Hey guys." I said. I noticed that Sirius wasn't looking at me. He was looking everywhere, at the wall behind me, the table beside me, or even at the rug beneath my feet.

"Hey," was one of the various greetings I got. "We saw your sister in Hogsmeade." James said.

I was internally freaking out. "Really?"

"Yeah. We met her and some of her friends." Remus continued.

My response was cut off by the appearance of a familiar owl. The blonde and brown feathers that were unusual on any type of animal as well as the green eyes told me that this was no ordinary owl.

One of its wide eyes winked at me. I smiled a little. There was a letter tied to Angela's leg and I reached over to take it. I wrapped the leather cord around her leg again and kissed the top of her head. "Bye." I whispered. She winked again then left.

_Dear Lily, _

_ How are you? I know we just saw you, but we miss you already! Michael says that he hopes you haven't gotten into any trouble yet, but I told him that there were no promises. He said to tell you that you shouldn't feel guilty for missing the full moon, as you're in another country. OH! I almost forgot, but he enclosed his own little letter for you. Anyway, I just wanted you to let us know when you have your first Quidditch match, so that we can arrange to come see it. By the way, I want you to find out if Remus likes a certain wolf that we all know, aka, me. Lots and lots and lots and lots of love, Kate, Anna, and Angela. _

I opened the letter from Michael next.

_**Dear Lily, **_

_** I know that I told my sister to tell you, but I don't really trust her attention span very much. I know that you're probably feeling guilty for missing the full moon, but don't worry about it. I know that you're probably very busy and that there is no way for you to get from one country to another just for one night. I hope that everything is okay at your new school. **_

Your surrogate brother, Michael

__Reading the two letters made me more than a little homesick, but I brushed it off, because it was not cool for guys to tear up at a letter. I turned my attention back to the other guys.

"My sister didn't do anything to embarrassing did she?" I asked calmly. The letters had also strangely made me calm.

"Nah, we all hung out with her and her friends." James answered.

"Do you know anything about Anna?" Remus asked and then blushed faintly.

"Yeah. What do you want to know?"

"Is she single? Do you know if she likes me? Does she have any siblings? How does your sister know her?" He started to ask rapid fire. I thought back to the letter Anna had sent. It seemed that Anna had liked Remus. When I broke out of my thoughts, he was still going.

"Remus! Take a breath." He blushed again. "No, she does not have a boyfriend. She does like you. She has a brother. And her and my sister all went to school together." I told him.

"Oh, that's cool." He tried to say calmly while a smirk appeared on his face.

The other guys talked while I stared into the fire. I don't know how they did it, but they managed to talk until dinnertime.

"I am starving." Sirius proclaimed. We all stood up and made our way to the Great Hall. The food was delicious as always. Once we had all finished and made our way back to the portrait hole, Remus made his escape.

"I, uhh, left something in the Great Hall. I'll catch up with you guys later." I knew that that was his lie. He left and I glanced at Sirius. He nodded.

We all went up to the dorm and I packed my school bag. It was merely a prop in the grand scheme of things. "I'm going to the library. I'll see you later." After various goodbyes I left the dorm.

I wasn't going to the library though. I went to the seventh floor and paced back and forth three times in front of the tapestry. A door appeared and I stepped through it. A forest stood before me. I grinned. At my old school there was nothing like this. I loved Hogwarts, I realized looking at the trees. It had become my home away from home.

I dropped my bag and looked around. The trees were tall and wide, as if they had stood there for a hundred years. There was a light filtering through that tinged everything green the further into the forest you went. The leaves reflected those of the trees outside. They were just beginning to turn red and yellow. The ground was covered in pine needles.

I transformed and felt myself drop onto all fours. I didn't get to be by myself very often when I transformed. Whenever I was I felt completely free. There was no more names, drama, worry, or anything. I let myself give into my animalistic tendencies. I was no longer Lily or Laurence. I was simply me.

I wandered through the trees for a while. In my head I imagined a lake. And the room supplied one.

I lost track of time. By the time I got back to the dorm it was four a.m. I changed and crawled into my four-poster. It felt like I had just closed my eyes when the guys came in. James was carrying Remus and set him down on his bed. I sat up.

"What's wrong?" I asked immediately. Peter was limping and James had a hand to his chest. Sirius had a long gash across his cheek that went down his neck and disappeared beneath his shirt.

"Oh. Laurence. We –um- didn't know you were awake." James said.

"Don't give me any bullshit, let me know whose hurt the worst, and I'll work from there." I said giving them a stern glare.

Sirius, Peter, and James exchanged looks. "You have to promise not to tell anyone."

"I promise."

"It's Remus. He's hurt the worst. He might have bruised his ribs. And the rest, well, you can see for yourself." I walked over to Remus' bed and looked him over. He had a large gash across his chest. His arm was bent at an odd angle and there was bruising all over his body. Poor Remus.

I grabbed me wand and started healing his various wounds. I set his arm and used a spell to stitch together the cut on his torso. I tried my best on his ribs, but he was still going to be sore in the morning.

"Alright, who's next?" I asked. The guys all smirked through their pain. None of them wanted to admit how badly they were hurt. Typical guys.

Peter had a broken foot. Sirius had a huge, gaping gash down his cheek, neck, and torso. James had bruised ribs and maybe some broken ones. They were all going to be sore in the morning, but there wasn't anything life threatening anymore.

I was incredibly glad that it was Sunday because by the time I finished it was seven o'clock. We all, minus Remus as he was already asleep, fell into bed. I was out before my head even touched to pillow.

I don't think that any of us woke up before 3 p.m. Typically for guys, when they woke they were all hungry.

"Thanks Laurence, for last night. And for not asking questions." Peter, Remus, James, and Sirius told me.

"No problem. And I'm sorry I can't do anything about the soreness." I told them. James winced as he stretched. "Sorry." I muttered.

"It's fine."

"I'm hungry! Let's go to the kitchens." The other guys nodded.

"I'm going to stay back. You all go on ahead." I told them.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Go ahead. See you later."

Once they left I collapsed on my bed. A little nap couldn't hurt anything, and I was still incredibly tired.

Next thing I knew it was eight at night. I left the dorm and went down to the common room. Sirius and James were lounging on the couch watching Remus and Peter play chess. James glanced up when he heard my footsteps.

"Hey. So Sleeping Ugly awakes. Or something like that." Sirius said.

"It's Sleeping Beauty. But I wouldn't expect you to know that. Anyway I have to go. See you later." I left through the portrait hole and went down to the kitchens.

"Laurence, what are you doing in here?" James asked me. I lifted my plate of chocolate cake a little off the table then lifted the huge basket filled to the brim with chocolate.

"Eating." I said behind a mouthful of cake.

"Hey, what was wrong earlier? You just kind of exploded." James asked.

"Nothing, I just didn't get much sleep last night, and I took it out on you guys." I said vaguely. Damn PMS. It just likes to make life difficult.

We sat in silence for a while, while I finished my cake and began on the basket.

"Are you a chocoholic?" He asked suddenly. I gave him an odd look. "Remus is, so I have nothing against it. I was just wondering because of the amount of chocolate you have surrounding yourself. And Remus never shares his chocolate and he just hoards it away, and every time Sirius tries to steal it Moony always knows, and I was just wondering if you're going to be like that." James rambled.

I shoved the basket of chocolate towards him, surprising both of us. "Just take a piece and shut up." He tentatively reached his hand across and snatched it back quickly once he had a piece. He was probably terrified that I'd bite his hand off.

He munched quietly on his chocolate truffle and once he finished it grabbed another.

"So, what's your family like?" He asked. I froze. I couldn't give myself away or my time at Hogwarts would be over.

"Ehh, my sister annoys me and my parents are okay I guess." I said evasively. "What about your family?" I asked trying to get the topic of conversation away from me.

"I'm an only child. My parents were older when they had me so I was a bit of a miracle child. My mum is really nice and so is my dad. I miss them a lot." He said. James surprised me by being so honest and open with me.

"That's great." I said sincerely. We sat in silence for a while as I finished my cake. Once I was done he stood.

"Ready?" He asked.

"Yeah." I grabbed my basket of chocolate and we left the kitchens together. I didn't realize it at the time, but that was the moment when I began to fall for James. Stupid hormones.

I missed all of you! I am so sorry for the wait, but I hope that this update was worth it. Please, please, please review! I'm not sure when I'll update next. If you have any ideas, please let me know! Until next time ~BlackCatPen


	7. Chapter 7

Sorry for the wait, I had a so much writer's block it wasn't even funny. I don't think this chapter is as good as some of the other's, but its kind of just a filler chapter. Thanks for reading, review please, and enjoy!

Dumbledore stood up during one of our meals in the Great Hall, and clapped his hands to get the student's attention. We quieted down quickly, all but the Slytherin's eager to hear what he had to say.

"A Halloween masquerade will be held at Hogwarts for any students fifth year and up. You may invite students from other schools as long as it is cleared either by a Head of House or myself. A Hogsmeade weekend will be provided to purchase costumes. Your costume must have a mask and there will be a charm placed on the hall so that you cannot remove your mask until midnight. Thank you, that will be all."

The hall began buzzing in excitement. The girls were squealing and some of the guys had pained looks. Sirius and James were smirking. Already there were girls all over glancing at them wondering who they might ask. Remus had his nose buried in a book, and Peter was too busy eating his soup to notice much of anything.

"Lily would have loved something like this." I whispered.

"Why don't you invite her?" Remus asked. I looked up.

"What?"

"Your sister. Why don't you invite her and her friends?" He said. The light bulb finally went off in my head. He was talking about my 'sister'. The other half of his idea wasn't bad either.

"I'll ask Dumbledore and send her a letter. Thanks for the idea Remus." I smiled to myself. This was perfect.

We ate the rest of our food, Sirius going back for fourths, and started back up to the tower. I told the guys I'd talk to them later and went to ask Dumbledore if my 'sister' and her friends could come.

I got to the stone gargoyles and told them the password I got from one of the Heads. I stood on the spiral staircase and knocked on Dumbledore's office door when I got to it.

"Come in." His pleasant voice sounded from inside the office. I opened the door and shut it behind me.

"Hello, sir.' I said politely.

"Hello, Laurence. How are you this fine day?" He replied his blue eyes twinkling.

"Quite wonderful sir, and you?"

"The very best. Now, what did you need?" He asked.

"I would like to invite my sister and her friends to the ball, if that's okay." He seemed to pause for a minute examining me. His eyes suddenly became mischievous.

"Of course. Lovely Lily, and of course Angela, Kate, and Anna. That would be fine." He told me. I was a little surprised that he knew their names, but it was Dumbledore I was talking to.

"Thank you, sir." I turned to leave.

"Oh, and Laurence?"

"Yes, sir?"

"There is no need to call me 'sir', professor or Dumbledore is quite fine." He said.

"Of course, sir, uh, I mean professor." With that, I left his office and made my way down the staircase. I floated back to the tower already mentally composing the letter I would write to my friends.

I didn't remember giving the password to the Fat Lady, but suddenly I was in the dormitories. Remus was sitting on his bed cross-legged with books on either side of him. James and Sirius were tossing a quaffle back and forth, and Peter was watching with a chocolate frog in his hand.

I went to my four-poster and grabbed some parchment, a quill, and an inkwell out of a drawer. Pulling my potions book onto my lap to write on I dipped the quill and started writing.

_Dear Anna, Kate, and Angela,_

_How go's life? Thanks for the letter! I have something to tell you! Dumbledore is holding a masquerade ball and is letting students from other school's come. I asked and he said that you guys could! You have to come! It wouldn't be any fun without you guys! Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, PLEASE come! I am begging! Please! I have to go, but think about it. (I know you'll come!) Haha, see you soon (hopefully), Lily._

I sealed the letter and borrowed James' owl. I watched it leave and leaned against the window frame.

"Hey, Laurence! Do you understand the potions homework? Can you help me?" Remus said to me from his position on the floor.

"Sure. Alright, all you have to do is…"

About two days later I was in the dorms again working on a History of Magic essay when James' owl tapped on the glass. I got up, let it in, and took the letter that was tied around its leg. It was a long letter, but mostly consisted of squealing on paper. In short, they agreed to come. I smiled sitting on the edge of the nearest bed. I heard someone open the door and I glanced up.

"Hey. What's with the smile?" He asked.

"Lily and her friends agreed to come." He smiled then too.

"Awesome. All right, well I just came to get some parchment for an essay that Remus is making me do. You want to come down and hang out in the common room?" He asked. I nodded. He slung his arm around my shoulders and we left the dorms together. I was already planning for the dance.

**Sorry for the short update, but I had major writer's block! Hope you liked this, even though it's short, but I should update again very, very soon with the actual dance. Please let me know what you think of the story so far. It inspires me to write more! **


	8. Chapter 8

**Hurrah for long updates! I'll let you get straight to the chapter! Enjoy and review!**

The time between receiving the letter from Anna, Kate, and Angela and the dance went by very quickly. I had sent them another letter informing them that I would pick out their dresses and have them here for the dance. They were very excited.

Before I knew it, it was the day before the dance. Dumbledore had said that the students could come the night before if they wanted and my friends very much wanted to. Anna, Kate, and Angela were apparating into Hogsmeade then walking up to the castle after class.

All day I was bouncing in my seat, not paying attention, and basically being a distraction. McGonagall took twenty points then sent me to get a calming solution from Madam Pomfrey. When the day was finally over I was bouncing around the dorm room. The calming solution did not work, if anything it made things worse.

All of us were just sitting on our beds when the door opened. We glanced at each other, we were all here who else could it be? I heard a squeal and my head flipped around. It was the girls! They came running at me and tackled me into a hug. I was laughing so hard.

Once the guys realized who was here they got up and hugged the girls as well, just a little bit calmer.

"Where's Lily?" James asked.

"She said that she had to finish a couple of things back in America, but she'll be here tomorrow in time for the dance." Kate answered with a wink at me. I smirked; my friends _definitely _had my back.

"Come on, I'll show you your dresses." I pulled Kate's hand and the others followed us out of the room giggling the whole way.

Down in the common room, I twirled Kate around the room and hugged the others again. It took us a while, but we finally made it out of the portrait hole and to the Room of Requirement.

"All right, I might've lied to you." I started.

"What do you mean?" Angela and Anna asked. Anna still had a flush from being around Remus.

"I don't actually have your dresses." They all started to protest until I paced back and forth in front of the wall. Then they had concerned looks on their face as their complaints faded off. I smirked again at their faces when the door appeared. Anna's mouth dropped open and Angela just stared. Kate walked forward and pushed the door open hesitantly then flung it open when she saw what looked like the interior of a dress shop.

They all ran forward and started going through the racks. Squeals and giggles could be heard as I just leaned on the doorframe. Anna gabbed my arm and pulled me into the room, when I heard the door slam I turned around. I felt a wand on the tip of my head and knew that Anna was taking all the charms off. I shrank, and my hair grew longer.

Finally being myself I giggled and dove into the racks with the same amount of enthusiasm as the rest of the girls.

The table of masks popped up in front of us, and we went to it. There were only four masks, but there was a perfect one for each of us.

In front of Kate was an elaborate blue mask with a black and blue feather attached by a gold pin to the side. For Angela, there was a simple black mask. There were sparkles all throughout the mask though; making it look like it was shimmering. Anna had a gold and red mask with a poinsettia-like flower on the side. In front of me was a black lace mask with white lace bordering it. White ribbon would tie around my head when it was on.

We just stared at our masks and picked them up all at once. With one long drawn-out squeal-scream we went running through the racks with even more energy than before.

Anna found her dress first. A red lace corset and a long gold skirt that fell to the floor, it was perfect, sweet and a little sexy. I knew that Remus would love it on her. Next was Angela, the dress seemed to be made of the same fabric as the mask. She had puffy short sleeves and a plunging v-neckline. It was also floor-length. Kate's dress was a dark blue that complemented the mask perfectly. It had spaghetti straps and a black lace strip under the bust. It was ankle length.

My dress was different, and I knew it would make me stand out among the long dresses. It was a white-cream color and had long sleeves with a loop that would go around my middle fingers. The sweet heart neckline was perfect and the skirt only went to my knees. The skirt was full and had a few layers of tulle.

After getting heels to match our dresses, we left the room with our finds. The charms were reapplied to me and I carried 'Lily's' dress back to the dorms. The guys were gone. After arranging our dresses to hang around the room in their garment bags, we sat on the beds. Anna had chosen Remus' and Kate was making Sirius' bed for him. Angela sat on the floor in the middle of us, as I had chosen to sit on my own bed.

"So how is everything? How was Michael's transformation? I feel so bad for not being there! And Anna I think it's adorable how you like Remus!" I said all of this very quickly and as I took a breath to ask more questions Kate jumped in.

"Everything is fine, Michael's transformation was fine and he doesn't blame you at all for not being there, and I'll let Anna answer the last thing." She smiled evilly at Anna.

"Yeah, Anna we're dying to hear the answer to that last thing." Angela said somehow sarcastically and genuinely at the same time.

Anna blushed. "I… I… he's… he's…." She stuttered.

"Just say it!" The rest of us yelled.

"He's cute, okay! But once he finds out about Michael, I don't think that he'll want to talk to me!" The other two looked sympathetic at this, but I busted out laughing. I got strange looks. "It's not funny! Seriously!"

"Someone say my name?" Sirius said as he walked in with the other guys. James, Remus, Peter, and myself groaned. That joke was _very _old. I'd been hearing it since I was a kid and they since they got to Hogwarts and met Sirius.

"N-no." Anna stuttered again, nervous that they might've head our conversations. Remus joined her on his bed, sitting neatly beside her. Sirius practically pushed Kate off playfully. It set off a war between the two. James and Peter sat on their respective beds chuckling at the sight.

Sirius surprised us all by turning into a dog and pouncing on Kate. She looked surprised for just a moment until she turned into a panther and pushed him off of her. They battled back and forth for a while until Sirius became a human again and called "Truce, truce. I CALLED A TRUCE, WOMEN!" Kate morphed back and had a huge grin on her face.

"All right, now that we settled that," Remus started with a glance to Kate and Sirius, "what is with the garment bags everywhere? We, and you, were not gone that long."

"Oh, we took advantage of something." I said with a cryptic smile.

"And also, you're an animagus?" Remus directed the question to Kate.

"Yeah…" She said, her grin fading now that she realized what she had done. I caught a glance between Anna and Angela.

"Actually, we all are." They said, referring to just the three of them. They stood and changed, Kate for the second time.

And there they were, the owl, the wolf, and the panther. I felt a twinge of sadness that I hadn't changed with them, but I knew I couldn't, although, the looks on Remus, James, and Peter's faces helped a little bit. I burst out laughing and fell off my bed with a thump.

"You knew?" They rounded on Sirius and me.

"Um… yes?" Sirius sounded unsure of what he should say. I kept my mouth shut and focused on trying to become invisible.

"Laurence?"

"Yes, fine, I knew! All right! I knew! They're my sister's best friends, of course I knew. I'm sorry for not telling you." I started out very loud, but towards the end my voice almost faded out entirely.

"It's all right. It was just a bit of a… a shock." James said reassuringly. "One more question, though."

"Yes?"

"Is Lily an animagus?" He asked very quietly, as if he was afraid to.

"That's her decision. I'm sorry, but we can't tell you that." Anna said. She was fiddling with her wolf charm. I couldn't help but notice that Remus looked at her curiously when he noticed what the charm was. I could almost see the little gears turning in his head, putting it all together. I hoped he caught on soon, he really seemed to like Anna and I could tell she liked him as well.

It was quiet for a minute. "Why don't we go down to the common room and play exploding snap or chess?" Remus suggested.

We all nodded our assent, and that was how we spent the rest of the night. When I finally managed to fall asleep my head was still filled with thoughts of the dance.

The next morning I was shaken awake at the ungodly hour of six a.m. Pretending to be a guy involved waking up late, throwing on the first clean uniform I found, and going to breakfast. I had forgotten how much work it took to be a girl.

I groaned when I felt a pair of hands on me and I rolled over trying to go back to sleep. Next thing I knew I was soaking wet, with long red hair sticking to my face and neck. There was a cold breeze by my ankles and I realized that someone, probably Angela, had spelled away my clothes. I sat up wide-eyed. And I shrieked, loudly.

I covered my mouth quickly. Three different sets of curtains opened. Peter was still snoring peacefully behind his unaware of anything that was happening. Sirius was the first to speak, as usual.

"Shut the bloody hell up its…Oh my god, Lily what are you wearing?" He said with his trademark smirk. I pulled the covers further up my chin. I blushed very, very deeply. I think that a lobster would be jealous of how red I went.

"Umm, why don't you ask Angela?" I said glaring at her.

"Believe it or not, and I don't think that you will. I didn't do it. Though, now I'm kind of wishing that I had." She said with a Cheshire cat grin.

"If you didn't do it…then who did?" I asked suddenly suspicious.

Everyone looked innocent enough. I knew it couldn't be Sirius, as he wouldn't wake up _this _early, even for a prank. Suddenly, Anna burst out laughing. It was always the quiet ones.

"Anna! I'm going to kill you! Someone hand me my wand!" I screeched at her. I looked around wildly, while Anna fell to the floor with tears in her eyes. I spotted it on the bedside table and I grabbed it. First, I transfigured some tissues into clothes and yanked them on under the covers. I also dried my hair quickly.

Finally emerging from my bed, I stood over Anna. She stopped laughing and looked up at me. We stared for a while when she got a mischievous spark in her eye. Abruptly, I wasn't glaring into her human brown eyes, but the slightly more animalistic eyes. The wolf that was Anna bolted off and disappeared behind Remus' curtains, her head reappearing curled up on his lap. I couldn't help but smile. They were just so cute together. I about squealed with happiness when Remus scratched behind her ears, jokingly.

I had to get her back though. I shot a hex at her and I knew that I wouldn't miss. Suddenly, instead of her blonde fur, it was now bright red. I smirked evilly. With a slight pop, Anna was the one sitting on Remus' lap, string at me.

"What did you do?" She asked, her eyes wide in horror.

"You'll just have to find out." I cackled. And yes, I know that it's a terrible cliché. She dashed to Sirius bedside table and yanked open the top drawer.

Remus, James, Sirius, and me all started to warn her against her action. "I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Came the shouts from all sides of the room. She suddenly shrieked and ended up on the other side of the room. And the rest of us laughed at her. We _did _try to warn her.

"What did you do, Lily!" I took one look at her face, flushed with anger, paired with her hair and I fell out of my bed laughing. I conjured a mirror for her and handed it over. "LILY MARIE EVANS! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DID YOU DO? FIX IT! NOW!" I started to roll on the floor, I was laughing far to hard to utter the reverse incantation.

About ten minutes later I finally calmed down, and returned her hair to normal. The boys had went back to sleep and Peter had never woken up in the first place. I was amazed at that boy's sleeping habits.

"Okay, so why did you wake me this early?" I asked, rubbing my eyes. Even after the excitement of the morning I was tired.

"Silly Lily. It's the day of the dance that's why." Kate teased.

"So? Can't I sleep in? It's not like it'll take that long to get ready." I said. Evidently, this was the wrong thing to say. I got three appalled looks.

"Not that long to get ready?" Angela choked out.

"Who are you and what have you done with Lily Evans?" Anna asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You've been with, not to mention been, a guy for far too long. Come on, you're taking us to that room where we got the dresses. Let's go." I stood and dusted my butt off. I wasn't sure what they had in store for the rest of the day, but I was vaguely scared. With my friends, you never know what you could get.

On the way to the Room of Requirement, I yawned at least three million times. I let my friends drag me into the room. It was mostly empty space, with four yoga mats in the center, and a door labeled 'kitchen'. I immediately went to that door and entered the hustle and bustle of the morning preparations and ordered a large, large cup of coffee from the first house elf I saw.

It didn't take long for the coffee to appear in my hand and the house elves yelling after me to come back soon. The others were already stretching. Kate looked up in one of her stretches and gasped when she saw the coffee in my hand.

"No, no, no, no, no! No coffee for you! The caffeine will make you puffy! We have the dance to think about. Plus, you'll never impress James if you look like someone who is recovering from a broken nose! C'mon lets stretch." After her rather long speech she set my drink down on a table that had just appeared then disappeared again.

For about two hours all we did was stretch our muscle's in silence. It felt good to do something other than the strenuous Quidditch that James had us do occasionally. By the time it was eight thirty I felt calm and refreshed. Anna returned from the kitchens with a big bowl of fruit.

I should've known that they would insist on being extra healthy right before the dance. After I had eaten at least half the fruit myself, the room transformed itself. Now, it looked like one of the high-end spa's you saw in New York or London. It was perfect.

By the time it was actually time to get ready for the actual dance, we were glowing. Having been treated to all the services that the room could offer, our skin was smooth, our hair brushed and polished, and our nails glossy. All that was left was to actually do our hair, makeup, and get dressed. It was simple enough with wands and magic.

And fifteen minutes before the dance started we were all ready. After the flurry of activity it took to get ready, it felt nice to relax for a while. The second I thought about sitting down, the room supplied a few chairs and couches.

I fell into the nearest chair, and then got reprimanded for almost messing up my hair. I sat a little more carefully and turned to Anna.

"You going to ask Remus to dance?" I asked nonchalantly. She blushed deep red and mumbled something that I didn't hear. "What was that?" I said a smile forming on my face.

"I said, maybe." She repeated quietly.

"AWWWW!" Was the cry that went up from all of the rest of us.

"Shut up."

The Great Hall was amazing. Jack O Lanterns floated around and graced the tables that were along the side. We looked around for the boys and found them sitting at one of the tables, bottles of butterbeer already sitting in front of them. I had almost made it all the way to their table when I tripped in my six-inch heels. I thought for sure that I was going all the way down when James caught me.

"Hey there, Clumsy." He joked. I felt my face flame.

"Thanks…" I mumbled.

"Your welcome," he whispered to me then gave me a hug.

"Well, you all look very nice." Sirius said nicely, that is until I saw his lewd expression. I automatically smoothed down the bottom of my dress and pulled up the top.

"Our eyes are up here, Black," Angela said sarcastically.

"Are you sure? Something lower is beckoning for my attention." He smirked. Angela smacked him lightly across the face.

"Well, come on then, let's dance." The latest song from a new popular band was playing. It had an upbeat catchy tune. I shrugged.

"Let's go then." The girls and I went out onto the floor where the majority of the crowd was dancing. I knew that the guys stayed back at the table. Sirius could dance, but wouldn't until one of his followers practically begged him to, Peter was to nervous to actually ask a girl to dance, not that he could anyway, and James and Remus would only dance if we asked them too. I knew that they wouldn't have any fun unless we dragged them into it. "Hey Anna, you should go get Remus and make him dance with us."

"Oh, I don't know. What if he says no?" She chewed her lip nervously.

"Then we'll have to make him say yes!" Kate said.

Kate ran back over to the boys with the rest of us trailing along behind her. She stopped a few feet from them and told us her plan. "Alright, Anna asks Remus, I'll ask Sirius, Angela asks Peter, and Lily will, of course, ask James."

"Why of course?" I asked indignantly.

"Because, we all know you're in love with him." Kate answered easily.

"In love? With James bloody Potter? You have got to be kidding me!" I sputtered out the reply.

"Honey, we all see it. The only one that doesn't is James. Ask the other boys if you don't believe me." Anna said gently.

"Maybe I will!" I said crossly.

"You do that." Angela said under her breath.

"Oh, bite me!"

"Okay!" Angela reached over to bite me, but I moved out of her way.

"No no no! I was being sarcastic!"

"Too late!" She said smirking. I started to walk backwards trying to keep an eye on her. It was hard enough to walk forwards in these heels, let alone backwards, so after a few steps I stumbled again. Right into the lap of James Potter. Merlin hated me.

"Oomph!"

"Oh shit! Sorry James! It was these stupid heels again!" I glared at said heels. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you? I am so sorry!" I rambled on until he put his hand over my mouth.

"I'm not quite that delicate, Lily. I'm fine, promise, you just surprised me is all."

"I am so sorry!" I finally got the courage to look at him. I noticed that his glasses weren't there. I picked them up from my lap. "Here's your glasses." I said quietly.

"Thank you." I heard the smirk in his voice and I figured that he really was fine. "Why don't you leave your shoes here, instead of stumbling around every where?"

"That's a good idea." I told him and promptly kicked off the dreaded heels. I almost sighed in relief. "That is so much better!"

"I told you so," James was smug. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Anyway, there was a reason we came over here." I started.

"We? You're the only one here." James told me.

"Wait, what?" I looked around only to find that he was right. "Where did they all go?"

"Well, while you were being clumsy," I blushed at his words. "The other girls grabbed the guys' hands and pulled them out onto the dance floor." He pointed and I saw the group of my friends. Peter and Remus were awkwardly dancing while Sirius and the girls were grinding and looked like they were having the time of their lives. "Would you like to join them?" He asked holding his hand out to me.

"Sure." I let him lead me to the dance floor. We were greeted with smirks and knowing smiles from more than a few of my friends.

We all danced and grinded into each other for a few more songs until a slow one came on. Deciding against dancing with the others I went back to the table and watched as the others slow-danced in one big circle. I giggled to myself. I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and I saw Snape standing there.

"Hello, Serverus." I greeted diplomatically. I knew that I had to be nice, or he could spread my secret throughout the entire school.

"Hello, Lily. Would you like to dance?" He asked with a greasy smile.

"No thank you. I came over here to sit for a bit, I'm sorry."

"Oh, are you sure? I invited someone that would very much like to see you, again. I do believe that you know him. A friend from an old school." His smile got even larger until he looked like a Cheshire cat.

"Really? Who would that be?" I asked my curiosity piqued. Although that smile was beginning to scare me

"Alan." He said simply and I felt the calm smile slide right off my face. All of a sudden I felt flashes of emotion. Anger. Rage. Fear. Depression. Terrified. An intense need to slap the smile right off of Snape's face. For a while, I had this crazy notion that I could trust this greasy haired boy. Now, I knew better. He had brought to the surface the one thing that I had wanted to bury from my old life. I did the best thing I knew to do in this situation. I stomped as hard as possible on his foot and left to find the girls or Sirius.

I looked to the dance floor. The song was over and they were gone. I spun around looking towards the refreshments. They weren't there. I searched the entire room. No where. I caught a brief glimpse of Alan and I quickly moved away. There was no way I was letting him anywhere near me. I kept looking. James. I almost sighed in relief. Even if he didn't know why I was scared, I knew that he would protect me.

"James!" I yelled once I was close enough for him to hear me.

"Hey, Lils! Where were you? I thought you said that you were going back to the table." He asked.

"I, ugh, met someone. Look, I'm kind of afraid right now. Please, help me?" I asked letting the terror shine onto my face,

His face instantly darkened. "Of course. What's wrong?" He asked.

"Just a ghost from my past. I just need you to stay near me and don't let anyone besides the rest of our group drag me off. Whatever it takes, okay?" I knew I sounded desperate I just had to make him agree.

"Of course." I gave him a grateful hug. And it was in that moment when I heard _his _voice.

"Why hello there, Lily. It's been so long hasn't it?" The awful voice washed over me.

"Hi, Alan." I said stiffly.

"Why don't we go dance and catch up on old times?" He asked with an evil smile. I felt fear wash over me again. Then James' hand was around my waist and I felt safe again.

"I'm sorry, but it's my turn to dance with her. Goodbye now." James told Alan coldly and led me out to the dance floor.  
>"Thank you so much for this, James." I told him sincerely. He didn't have any idea how much it meant to me.<p>

"Anything for you. Even though I haven't known you that long, it feels like I have," He told me.

"It does doesn't it?" I mused. He spun me out, and then back in as we danced. "You're a good dancer, surprisingly."

"Surprisingly? I'll have you know that my parents made me take ballroom dance lessons for over 8 years. I know how to dance very well." I giggled at the thought of a little James lacing up his dancing shoes instead of chasing a Quaffle on his broom.

"What?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking of a little 5 year old James waltzing." I smirked. "I bet Sirius might have some pictures even!" I giggled, again, at that. James blushed beat red.

"Don't you even dare!" He said teasingly.

"Oh, don't you worry, I will." I laughed and he laughed along with me. It was a pleasant sound that was broken by an ugly voice.

"The song is over. It is now my turn with our dear Lily." The horrid man was suddenly standing behind James again.

"I don't think so." He said turning to face Alan.

"You have no claim on her. Therefore it is my turn to dance with her." Alan said his voice that deathly calm that was scary.

"She is my _girlfriend_," James stressed the lie. "_Therefore_ it is not your turn to dance with her." He said, mocking Alan. I felt a little shocked. Why would James lie like that? What bothered me the most was the fact that James saying that _didn't _actually bother me. I got through my initial reaction and smirked a little. Apparently this was the wrong thing to do because Alan's clenched fist suddenly snapped forward and hit James directly in the face. I heard a crunch that could have come from his face or his glasses breaking, I wasn't entirely sure. I bent down over James.

"James! James! Are you okay?" He didn't respond. Alan's foot struck out and kicked him in the stomach a few times before I threw myself in front of him. I got kicked in the chest before Alan realized it was me.

"Lily, love, you know that you're not supposed to interfere. Remember what happened last time?" He asked in a sickeningly sweet voice. He yanked me up by my arm and dragged me off. The last thing I remember seeing before the tears clouded my eyes was James' motionless body lying on the ground. My vision then became obscured and everything went black as I fainted.

**Before you all kill me for being M.I.A. for so long (and for the cliffie) I just want to let you know that this chapter is almost 5,000 words! It's the longest one yet! Please review and tell me what you think! It really inspires me to write. This chapter was hard to write and I'm not sure if I completely like it. Let me know if you like it! **


	9. Chapter 9

** First off, I would like to thank an anonymous reviewer. _LilyQuidditchEpic Story_, thank you so much for reviewing! Your reviews have absolutely made my day ten times better! Again, thank you so much! I actually wrote some of this while waiting for my Pottermore email. Have any of you guys been on there? Do you like it?**

** On to the chapter! I hope you enjoy and don't forget to review!**

The first thing I became aware of was my throbbing chest. The next, was that I was lying on the ground. I sat up and opened my eyes. I shut them again it was much too bright. I slowly cracked one open and when that one got used to the light, I opened the other. Looking around, I was in a dilapidated room. The bed had been destroyed and there were claw marks on the door and walls

I didn't know where I was. That much was clear to me, but I had no clue what preceded me waking up here. There were no windows in the room; therefore, I didn't know what time it was. I tried to stand, but I collapsed. My feet were unsteady and would not hold my weight.

I pulled up onto my knees. I crawled as well as I could to the bed. Pulling up onto the slightly softer that the floor bed, I stayed sitting up. I finally began to look at my surroundings and myself more thoroughly. Firstly, I was still wearing my mask and dress. My heels were now on my feet though, although I had been sure I had kicked those off…

I began to remember! There was the ball. And I was dancing with James… but we were interrupted. By someone… Why can't I remember? Frustrated, I pushed my hair back and stared at a wall. I don't know if I was startled when the door was pushed open.

"Lily, darling. Glad to see that you're awake." Alan. The rest of the night came back to me. Alan and James got into a fight. James told him that I was hi girlfriend. James was knocked unconscious. I felt the tear welling up in my eyes. One look at the smug look on Alan's face however, and I pushed them back. I would not look weak in front of this ass. I had already spent too much time doing that.

"Lily. You mustn't cry. I'm the only thing to fear here, and I don't want anything to happen to you. Yet." He laughed. "Goodbye, for a little while." He shut the door and I heard the lock click. That was when the tears flowed again.

I thought I had left that git back in America. I moved schools, _countries_ even, and he was still here. He's like a parasite that I can't get rid of. In the silence, my thoughts began to drift back to my time in America.

_I wanted to see the world. I wanted to go to America instead of Hogwarts from the beginning. What a mistake I made. It was where I met Angela, Anna, and Kate though. I think that that is some of the only good that came out of it. America was where I met Alan._

_ He was charming at first. Charismatic, caring, everything a friend should be. I fell for him. And we began dating. **He** began to change. He was starting to be controlling, abusive. The ball was not the first time he had hit me. Not even close. _

_ Back at my old school, I was not allowed to leave his presence, excepting classes. He was in most of them anyway. I had to go with him to everything. He had this group of friends that acted like they were superior to everyone. _

_ They often talked about how muggles needed to be taught their place. Muggles and women. I was not allowed to speak during these meetings. Anytime I did, I was hit. I had the scars to prove it. The things they talked about scared me. The way they spoke about torturing the non-magic. The way they wanted to take away women's rights. They were speaking of sending us back to the medieval times!_

I hated being with Alan in the end. He abused me outside of those meetings. I was not allowed to have an opinion. It was **forbidden.** I learned to stay quiet. That was why, when I got the opportunity to come to Hogwarts, I jumped at the chance. It was my chance for an escape. I left the school, the country, and even that wasn't enough. I dumped him before I left, and here he was again.

I wiped away the tears. I would not show any weakness. I got the energy to stand up. I walked around the small room slowly. In way of furniture there wasn't much. The bed I had been laying on, an old, broken down chair with the stuffing hanging out, and an old wardrobe was all there was.

The claw marks seemed like an ominous warning. Something sinister had been here. I opened the wardrobe. Stacked on the highest shelf, were robes. They had been neatly folded, and although they were shabby, they were well taken care of. Stitched neatly on the inside of one of the robes, were the letters R.J.L. Everything fell into place inside my head. The claw marks, the dilapidated look of the room, the clothes. I was inside the Shrieking Shack!

I took my wand from its hiding place. Ahem. Angela gave one to each of us. It was like a muggle gun holster, but ours held our wand and was invisible to everyone, but the owner.

"Alohomora," I whispered quietly. I pushed the door open and peeked my head out. I didn't see Alan anywhere. I cautiously stepped out of the room and into the hallway. My heels clicked against the floor. I tapped each one with my wand and they transformed into flats. Much easier for sneaking around in.

"Going somewhere?" I whipped around.

"Shit." I ran. Suddenly, a foot came out and tripped me. I skidded against the floor, coming to a stop only when I slammed head on into the wall. I felt, as well as heard, a crack and my shoulder began to burn. I let out a little moan of pain. I looked up to see Alan standing over me I had no clue how he got over so fast. The smirk he wore scared me.

"Of course not. You're staying right where you are." He hauled me up roughly by my arm. At least it wasn't the one that was hurt. Then he shoved me into a wall. I landed with a loud, hollow sound. Another moan of pain. Alan smiled. My pain was joyful for him.

"Are we having fun yet?" He asked, grinning again.

"What is your problem? Why couldn't you just stay in America when I left you?" I asked. I left many things in America that I'd miss, but he was not one of them.

"Lily, Lily. When will you learn?" He reached out and grabbed me. "_Never _talk back to your superior's." He slapped me across the face. I reached a hand up to my cheek. My eyes stopped stinging. I had had enough of his bullshit to last me a lifetime. I was done letting this pompous, arrogant ass push me around. I was sick of it, and I was time I stood up for myself.

"You are _not _my superior. You have no hold over me anymore. I am _not _your puppet." I told him determinedly. I looked him straight in the eye. "You are done in Britain. I think that it's time you go. And never come back." I pushed him until his back hit the wall. I wasn't going to hurt him, just scare him a little. I pulled out my wand and hid it behind my back. He opened his mouth to speak.

"I will never leave you alone. I will always be there, leaning over your shoulder. I am a part of your past, and your future. There is _no _getting rid of me. I am your superior, and you would do well to remember that." He said menacingly. The thing was, that I wasn't scared of this ass anymore. He no longer frightened me.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I thought that you could just leave and then there will be no more trouble. I guess I was wrong. At any rate, goodnight." I caught the slightly confused look on his face until I whispered _stupefy_ and his eyes shut and he crumpled to the ground. I looked at his limp, unconscious body and I almost laughed. After all the time of him making my life hell, I finally had the chance to get my revenge, but I wasn't going to. It wasn't worth it.

I turned from him and made my way to the tunnel. I was going to get out of this damned house if it killed me. Which it very well might, with all the injuries I had. I stopped, hand on the wall to steady myself and continued my way down the hall. I wasn't sure where the tunnel back was exactly. I was leaving even more bloodstains from when I was touching my head, which had to be gashed, and touching the wall again. I kept going through the house, searching for the way out.

I opened a door and found the room that I had originally woken up in. Closing it again, I turned around and came face to face with a greasy haired boy.

"Snape. What are you doing here?" I asked him, my voice hard.

"I'm really sorry about this, Lily." He pulled out his wand, pointed at me, and suddenly my world went dark.

Sorry about the long wait! I have two exams tomorrow and then I am FREE! FREE I TELL YOU, FREE!

** Ahem, sorry about that. Anyway, please forgive me for the delay! And as a side note, happy belated birthday to _LilyQuidditchEpic Story _I hope you had a great birthday! **

** I'm also not sure how happy I am with this chapter. Let me know what you think, it will mean a lot to , with summer coming up, I'll hopefully be able to write more! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please remember to r/r. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Again, thank you to _LilyQuidditchEpic Story _(did I get the name right) for the review! I agree, Alan is terrible and unfortunately he isn't going away yet. Also, thank you to _mockingjaysapprentice _for the review, your question shall be answered and I agree I want to punch Alan as well. :) I thought that I would try something a little different with this chapter. Let me know what you think, and as always, please R/R! Enjoy the chapter!**

She almost blended in with the white sheets surrounding her in the hospital wing. The only thing that stood out was her blood red hair, making her appear even paler. Her chest moved with small little puffs that showed how hurt she really was.

In all the time I knew Lily, she was not one to show pain. Even when she dated Alan and she was first abused, I did not find out until much later. She simply did not like to show weakness. It was a strong attribute of hers to be brave.

I didn't know how I was to explain the absence of Laurence to the others yet, mainly James, Peter, and Remus, as the girls already knew. They would help when the time came. I had been watching her in her coma-like sleep for a long while now. Giving the nurse a chance to check on other patients and me the chance to make sure she was as all right as she could be.

It was a miracle that she was found as quickly as she was. The nurse was woken in the middle of the night by a knock on the hospital wing doors. And there was Lily lying peacefully on the ground with her hands crossed over her chest like a corpse. The matron immediately was kicked into her _must take care_ mode, and Lily was put through all the tests to find out what was wrong.

A broken shoulder, split cheek, head cracked open and possibly a concussion, and a broken ankle. All being taken care of as she slept. Half of it was the spell that was used to knock her out and the other half was the magically induced sleep that the nurse put her in. She said something like it was better for her body to recuperate while sleeping than it would be for her to be awake.

I was the only one that was allowed to wait for her to wake up. The nurse told me that it could be anytime. Whether an hour from now, a minute, a day, or even a few weeks, I could be waiting for a while. I had alternated between pacing, sitting beside her, and annoying the matron for updates on her health. I think she was going to be glad to be rid of me. Although, with Remus' visits for his 'furry little problem' and James and my own mishaps, I was sure to be in here many more times during the year. Especially with the Quidditch season coming up.

I sat on the edge of her bed. I glanced at her and saw that her breathing had sped up a little bit. "Nurse? I think something is happening!" I alerted the nearby matron. She gently pushed me out of the way to examine my friend.

"I think she may be waking. If she does she will be very disoriented. Please, excuse me for a moment while I get the necessary potions. I will only be a second." The nurse disappeared into her office. I looked at Lily again.

"Please wakeup. Please." I whispered to her. Lily groaned. She was waking. "Lily? Lily? Are you awake? Lily? How are you feeling?" I said with increasing urgency. The nurse was back at my side with an armful of various potions and magical salves. I took some from her and set them on the small table beside the bed. "Is there anything I can do?"

"I'm sorry dear, but I'm afraid that you'll only be in the way. You could go and alert Dumbledore though, Mr. Black. The password is 'Mars Bars'. Please hurry." She said distractedly while waving her wand over Lily. I gave one last glance at the pair before leaving the wing; I knew that I would be back soon.

I practically sprinted to Dumbledore's office. I told the password to the gargoyles standing guard at the entrance and I rushed up the moving staircase. Now that I knew Lily was awake I was even more anxious to be near her. She was so much like a sister to me. I knocked on the door to the headmaster's inner office. It swung open and I rushed inside. He was sitting at his desk calmly, but one look at my face he seemed to grasp the situation fairly quickly.

"She is awake?" He asked. I simply nodded. "Wonderful, let us go see her." He stood and swept out of his office ahead of me. I spared one glare for the portrait of my ancestor on the wall and went after him.

When we arrived at the hospital wing the nurse was still by Lily's bed. The only difference was that she was sat up, leaning up against some pillows. The look of pure exhaustion on her face was just proof of how hurt she really was. She looked up at our approach and smiled weakly.

When we got close enough to the bed the nurse said, "She needs rest. You have ten minutes." Then she got up and left. Why she was saying that Lily needed rest after being in the magically induced coma was beyond me, but this is what she got paid for after all.

"Hello Lily, how are you feeling?" Dumbledore asked, always being one for pleasantries.

"Tired, but better. Thank you for asking."

"I must ask. Who attacked you? You were in quite a state when the matron found you." He asked calmly. I stood off to the side a bit, so as not to be in the way.

The expression on her face was pained. "I…I…I can't remember. That entire night is a blank spot in my memory. I remember being at the dance, dancing with James, then…nothing. It all goes black after that." She blushed a bit a James' name. I would have to ask her about that later when she hadn't just woken up from the brink of death.

"Are you quite sure that is all you can remember? Any feelings or brief scenes could help put together the pieces." Dumbledore said soothing yet urgently.

"I remember… uhm… dancing like I said… before I remember feeling scared. Really scared, but I can't remember why. Its like even memories before have fallen out of my brain." She got a very strained look on her face and the nurse stepped in.

"This young women has been through a very traumatic experience and she needs rest. I'm sorry headmaster, but I must insist that you and young Mr. Black leave now." She said sternly. The care of her patients was always her main concern.

"I understand. Mr. Black, let me accompany you out if that is okay."

"That's fine, Professor. I'll see you later, Lily. Okay, I'll come visit. I promise." She nodded and snuggled down into her sheets. She was asleep in a second. "Let's go, Professor." He nodded and we walked out of the wing together.

"I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening Mr. Black. If there are anymore concerns that you have feel free to come to my office anytime. Goodnight." He said.

"Thank you. I will." I waved goodbye and turned to walk back to Gryffindor tower all the while feeling Professor Dumbledore's eyes on me.

I was bombarded with questions the second I climbed through the portrait hole into the tower.

"Is she okay?"

"Does she know who attacked her?"

"Is she going to be alright?"

"Has anyone told the girls, yet?"

"Has anyone told Laurence, yet?"

"Has anyone _found _Laurence, yet?"

"Wait. I can only answer one question at a time." I took a deep breath. "She just woke up and she's super tired and disoriented. No, she doesn't know who attacked her. She barely remembers the dance. No, I have not contacted the girls or Laurence. And he, ugh, snuck into the village during the dance and apparated home to talk to his parents for a bit while everyone was distracted here. He should be back soon, he was only going to stay for a few days." I took another breath as the answers tumbled out just about as fast as my brain could put them together.

Everyone, almost simultaneously, let out a relieved sigh. And suddenly, it was like a weight had been lifted off all of their shoulders and they could relax. Except one person.

I knew that James would feel guilty and I figured he would blame himself, but I had been hoping that Remus had talked him down a bit. However, it seemed to be on the contrary. With the girls gone back to their homes, no one else had been there to convince him it wasn't completely his fault. He had been unconscious with the force of the blow the boy had hit him with.

I looked at him and judged his facial expression. His eyes were grim and there was still tape around the middle of his glasses. He had been too distraught to fix them and he refused to go to the nurse with a broken nose since he had learned the spell to fix it. One too many fistfights when he was back home he had said.

He didn't seem to have relaxed with the news that Lily was okay. The blame he was putting on himself must have been pretty strong. However, there was nothing he could do.

"Prongs. Prongs." He didn't respond. He just stared at the floor with a despondent look. "Prongs. James." He looked up at the name he had been given at birth. "Look, mate, it's not your fault. There was nothing anyone could do. No one knows if it was that twat ex anyway. It could have been anyone." I don't think he believed me. I sighed; nothing could make him think otherwise. "Just don't be too hard on yourself."

Even if no one knew exactly for sure who it was that attacked Lily, I was almost positive that it was her ex. I had no definite proof for it, so there was no way I could go to Dumbledore with my suspicions. I hope that she remembered quickly. I sat back.

I observed my friends around me. James was just staring at the ground while Remus and Peter were having a quiet conversation about who it was that attacked Lily. I sighed again. It had been a long time since I got a decent nights sleep, it seemed. "Right, well, I'm going to crash if I don't go to bed now. Night all." I stood and walked up the tower. I changed into some pajamas and was asleep before my head even hit the pillows.

**I'm a horrible person. I know. I'm so sorry. I'm such a terrible person. For making you wait so long and for giving you such a short update. I'm so sorry. Thanks to LilyQuidditch for reviewing, it was you that kicked my arse in gear. If there are any mistakes I'm sorry cause I wrote the last half of this just now and its 2:30 in the morning. I'm going to attempt to give you guys another chapter of this tonight. If you would like my tumblr is lifeoutontheocean I spend most of my time there. Feel free to send me an ask telling me what a horrible person I am there. Also if there is too much time between updates you can yell at me so that I write. Anyways enjoy. R/R even though I don't deserve it.**


	11. Chapter 11

It was surreal waking up to the real world again. Before it was as if I was in dreamland, reliving every moment I could remember. And many that I didn't. When I woke up and said that I couldn't remember the dance or who attacked me, I was telling the truth. I honestly couldn't. I was scared, absolutely terrified of something or someone. I remembered that. I remember dancing with James and feeling safe. Then something happened. I was scared again, but not for myself. I was scared for James. I just can't remember why.

The nurse told me that when I got to the hospital wing, I was in a bad shape. Luckily, however, she thinks that she caught me at the perfect time to make sure that my injuries didn't have too much lasting damage. The psychological damage that I had sustained wouldn't go away for a while however. As much as magic helped the physical, she told me, it could do nothing for the mental. Wizards were as far behind as muggles in that aspect of healing.

When I woke up, I was so tired. The nurse was standing over me and I about had a heart attack until I recognized that she meant me no harm. Then Sirius had shown up with… Professor Dumbledore, I think. Honestly some of my time at Hogwarts was fuzzy. People that I didn't connect personally with were hazy in my memory. Teachers. Random classmates. I could barely remember them when I strained myself.

The nurse told me that I just need to sleep and my memory should return to normal. I told her that I didn't belong here. At least, I thought to myself, not as Lily. I needed to escape and change back into Laurence before anyone got too suspicious. If that was possible. I knew that Sirius would help as much as possible. The nurse refused to let me go. She said that I had to at least spend the night at the castle. I didn't think that it would help my case to argue, so I just settled back into bed and went back to sleep. Hoping that when morning came, I wouldn't be in _too _deep a shit pile.

The nurse released me early the next morning, after one final checkup. She hadn't been happy. She told me that I should stay for at least another day, but I told her that I really needed to get back home. I changed back into my dress from the dance and slipped on my transfigured ballet flats. As much as I _loved _hospital clothes, I was very happy to get back into comfortably familiar clothing. Though I knew that these clothes held some bad memories that I couldn't access.

I slipped into the prefect bathroom the second I knew that no one could see me. Thank god for knowing the password. I transfigured a few towels into guy clothes and did all the necessary charms. Before I knew, Laurence was staring at me from the mirror.

"Let's get this over with." I told myself. A bit shocked at how deep my voice sounded again. It was easy to forget when I was Lily.

I walked to the tower and told the Fat Lady the password.

"You may enter." She swung open and I entered the common room. I want to say that I was prepared for the guys' reactions, but, quite frankly, I wasn't.

"Laurence!" I heard my 'name' being shouted from across the common room. I walked over. "You're back!"

"Ugh, yeah, I am." I was a little confused. That is, until Sirius stepped in.

"How was your visit at home?" He asked with a pointed look.

"Oh, yeah pretty good. Mum was happy to see me." I faked a smile.

"Did you hear about Lily?" Remus asked. I faked surprise as well as I could.

"You guys heard?" They all nodded. "Yeah, I did hear. She's doing fine though. She still can't remember most of the night though."

"You're sure she's going to be okay?" James pressed. The look in his eyes wasn't one I recognized.  
>"Absolutely positive. The only thing left that's wrong is the memory. And she should get that back eventually." I nodded to myself.<p>

"She can't remember who attacked her? I'd bet ten galleons and my broomstick on it being that git of an ex-boyfriend." James said with malice in his voice.

"Alan?" I whispered. "Alan was there?" I looked at Sirius who had an odd expression. Almost like guilt.

"Yeah. She was terrified of him. We were dancing," He looked a bit sheepish. "I hope that's okay." I nodded when he looked at me then signaled for him to go on. "Then he came over and started arguing with us. I told him to back off. Next thing I know, I was waking up in the hospital wing and Lily was missing." The events of that came flooding back to me. I remembered some of it now.

"He hit you?" I whispered.

"Yeah. The little toe rag knocked me out." James looked pissed. In fact, they all looked pissed.

"Are you okay" I asked.

"Yeah. Fine. The nurse fixed me up in a couple of hours." I looked him over. He seemed to be fine, but I wasn't sure. He had a slight bruise on the bridge of his nose that was almost completely covered by his glasses.

I decided that he would be fine, after all playing Quidditch had to toughen anyone up (bloody bludgers). I still felt tired and it would be nice to sleep in my own bed for once.

"Right, all. I'm exhausted. I'm off to take a bit of a nap. I'll see you later." With chorusing 'byes' and a few waves I went up the stairs to the dorm. I barely had enough energy to change into my pajamas and sink into bed. I was asleep as soon as I closed my eyes.

**All right guys, here's a short quick update. I really do apologize for the delays on all of my chapters. I know you must all hate me at this point, and I don't know if I still have any of my original readers anymore. I hope you accept my groveling, and this gift of another update! Please review and let me know what you think! That inspires me so much when I have writers block. Goodbye for now. **


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